So in my current fallout 4 playthrough I'm really focusing on settlements with a lot of mods. Hey, it's the one thing that is unique in Fallout 4 over the previous Bethesda games.
I'm using the conquest mod which lets me put a settlement anywhere. Anyone have any ideas for where they wished they could have had a settlement? I'm thinking in one of the cleared or empty vaults might be interesting. The Triggerman's vault has quite a lot of area, as well as the obvious choice of vault 111. Also scouting for scenic places for a quaint, pretty sort of town. I'm using the Resurrection tree mod with some springtime flowers and trees, so there's a lot of pretty nature spots to choose from right now.
Modded new lands and far harbor are also up for possibilities. Might try putting some in the Northern Springs new land.

Man I'm with you on settlement building, its pretty much all I do with fallout 4 now. there is some cool locations you could try the filled quarry near concord is a place I always thought about building and it could be turned into a really cool vertical town, also the radioactive swamp right outside of vault 88 is a cool place for maybe a raider ghoul town. personally I wouldn't use a vault that isn't v88 because they're built like a dungeon (with the exception of V81) and you have to find your way through it all and wouldn't flow well as a settlement imo but you do you. here's one of my settlements I've built in if you care to see some of my work

Oh, quarries are interesting.  I'm considering using something like "build your own pool" to make a custom underwater area.
The scavver town you build is like a work of art. Scavver art, but good stuff. I love looking at elaborate settlements.

Sirdanest wrote:

So in my current fallout 4 playthrough I'm really focusing on settlements with a lot of mods.  Hey, it's the one thing that is unique in Fallout 4 over the previous Bethesda games.  
I'm using the conquest mod which lets me put a settlement anywhere.  Anyone have any ideas for where they wished they could have had a settlement?  I'm thinking in one of the cleared or empty vaults might be interesting.  The Triggerman's vault has quite a lot of area, as well as the obvious choice of vault 111.  Also scouting for scenic places for a quaint, pretty sort of town.  I'm using the Resurrection tree mod with some springtime flowers and trees, so there's a lot of pretty nature spots to choose from right now.
Modded new lands and far harbor are also up for possibilities.  Might try putting some in the Northern Springs new land.  

Nice topic. I hadn't thought about locations. Vault 111 does make very much sense game wise... the first place was that quarry you pass early in the game. Another would be the Cordova Factory where all those raiders are located in. Finally that highway towards the top right of the map (where you head to start Far Harbor. It has an elevator / lift as well!

Have you tried any major interior settlements yet? Do raiders and stuff still try to raid the town in such an unconventional location like vault 111?

If you want to build a sort of town you could try redesigning existing ones like Concord, Quincy, University Point, and even Jamacia Plains. there are mods to turn the first three into settlements and countless mods to expand Jamacia Plains itself.

You could also try building settlements inside military installations. The Switchboard is one of my personal favorites to build in. As well as the secret lab within the University Credit Union.

Elianora, I believe created a settlement mod for the Switchboard so you don't really need Conquest for that one. But I wouldn't install it until you've already done the RR quest related to the Switchboard.

Lastly, you can always modify Vault 88 to be something other than a Vault. You can use the build pieces from SOEP or Snappy HouseKit to build cool Bunkers.

But really just some ideas. Just be careful with Conquest. If enemies have spawned within the cell/area before they will respawn again after a period of time. Despite a settlement being there.

I did kind of an interesting build where I had a town in the area around the entrance to Vault 111 that was set up with a large bazaar type area for traders and was more of a trading hub and area to interact with "outsiders" and then a settlement inside the vault proper that was heavily isolated from the outside world kinda inspired by Vault City, Vault 81 and the like. Besides that I haven't really explored a lot of alternate locations for settlements yet, it would be cool to have a settlement on the water like that one barge you can find way out at sea but I'm not sure the AI could handle something like that anyway.

I built up Vault 88 In a Metro 2033 style, so I fortified the area around the sewer entrance near the hospital where you kill Sinjin. Turrets, guard posts, the works. Too bad the settlers didn’t actually stay there to stand guard.

@Dmitri2033 There should be a couple of mods that expand the settler sandboxing on the Nexus. I don't know to what degree but it should expand the distance they travel from the vaults atrium area somewhat. Though I've heard it can be somewhat demanding on your system depending on how far they travel.

Nuka World has some wide open plains if you're up for it or playing in some kind of 'hero' scenario, your settlement could be a Minutemen forward base.

Vault 111. Nothing like raising a new society in the vault closest to home, Sanctuary.

I've been considering a zoo, in a custom location, using the cages. But that attracts more monsters. Or does it, in interior locations? That's my biggest question and I guess I could just build some cages in a vault and find out, but it's a waste of time if it does spawn deathclaws even in interiors.

Sirdanest wrote:

I've been considering a zoo, in a custom location, using the cages.  But that attracts more monsters.  Or does it, in interior locations? That's my biggest question and I guess I could just build some cages in a vault and find out, but it's a waste of time if it does spawn deathclaws even in interiors.

Do the cages have the automatic triggers built into them? Or perhaps the type of cage makes a difference. I think the only deathclaw I've run into in an interior is the Museum of Witchcraft in Salem.

I just left Vault 88 in a play thru and it does have possibilities, but I still like the overpass areas like the one that looks over the front entrance of Corvega. There's only 1 or 2 directions an attack is going to come from so thet're easy to defend. Water is the real problem.

MrEggs0925 wrote:

@Dmitri2033 There should be a couple of mods that expand the settler sandboxing on the Nexus. I don't know to what degree but it should expand the distance they travel from the vaults atrium area somewhat. Though I've heard it can be somewhat demanding on your system depending on how far they travel.

I used conquest to set up a settlement outside of Vault 88, around the manhole. I noticed the settlers didn't really stick around there (Maybe cos they didn't get gas masks. Or maybe they got dragged off by Watchmen.)

I never really noticed whether or not the settlers manned all the posts indoors though.

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Do the cages have the automatic triggers built into them? Or perhaps the type of cage makes a difference. I think the only deathclaw I've run into in an interior is the Museum of Witchcraft in Salem.
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Animals caught with cages cause other animals of that species to attack the settlement. I am not sure whether or not this would happen in a custom indoor settlement though, because the usual settlement attack spawn points would be missing.

I've noticed in some conquest settlements that they wander off, sometimes very,very far away... to just stand idly in the middle of nowhere. I thought originally they were sandboxing to some far off chair or bed, but nope, random tree or rock to stare at, apparently.
My next conquest settlement will have a wall and amenities already built before I move settlers in, and I'll see if that makes a difference.

I'm pondering making an airship settlement. Not sure how I'd get settlers up there though. Maybe at abernathy farms, that seems to have a high altitude build limit.

I love using that mod to build on the outside of Mahkra Fishpacking, which would be a perfect settlement where you can see enemies coming from miles away, and lots of interior space to live in, though I leave the inside alone, and the giant dam/ canal near Oberland Station where I love to build like shanty towns hanging off the side walls of the dam.

I tend to use tree/green mods so I also tend to look for scenic areas.